When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Oh boy. And that's just from America's Sam Weinman. Wait until the UK writers chime in on Rory's bizarro final round comments. Granted, he's frustrated, he's wet, he's cold, etc... but rather shocking stuff. From Weinman:
Before we get to the poor folks of Holywood having to fend off some of America's top golf writers making the pilgrimage to Rory McIlroy's hometown, a few stories about the reigning U.S. Open champion.
According to Paul Brennan, Rory tuned up with nine holes (carrying his bag!) at Royal County Down on Monday. He also tweeted photos here and here.
In a lengthy front page of the New York Times Sports Monday section, Niall Stanage takes on Rory's ambivalent stance on religion and politics and unlike some of the other stories along these lines, is detecting that this is a compliment to the Rory generation's wisdom and tolerance.
McDowell was raised as a Protestant, a religious identity that he wears with just as little ostentation as McIlroy’s Catholicism. But McIlroy is on his way to becoming a global superstar, which makes his case all the more intriguing.
“Isn’t it funny?” McGuigan said, reflecting upon the focus on religion. “People our age always want to find that out. It’s the same way that there used to be all that stuff about ‘How do you spell your surname?’ or ‘What newspaper do you read?’ That is going to take time to eradicate.”
He’s right — for our generation. For those who are younger, the change is already under way. John Stevenson was McIlroy’s principal at his high school, Sullivan Upper, just outside Belfast. There, as well as witnessing the teenage golf prodigy demolishing much older, bigger boys in inter-school games, he also saw what he terms “the first post-Troubles generation” come to maturity.
Lawrence Donegan profiles Chubby Chandler, who talks about the huge offers Rory is getting, with this beautiful quote:
"For instance, I called Rory the other day about a deal he had been offered. It is a very good deal, I told him, but I have no idea if it's for the right amount of money because I spoke to someone else and they offered more. So you are just feeling your way out there. The thing is if we do deals that are sympathetic to Rory then I know we won't go far wrong. He is 22, the lad, and we have got to make sure he isn't a basket case by the time he is 25."
At 5/9, 161, ESPN's Sports Science declares Rory gets all his power from his 72 degrees per second hip rotation. I think it's the driver head the size of a cantaloupe and weighing just a wee bit more than a mouse turd. But that's me.
As for the folks in Holywood, Mark Cannizzaro tries to better understand where Rory's humility comes from.
McIlroy, who now owns a spectacular house about 20 minutes away from Holywood with four par-3s, a driving range, putting greens, a soccer pitch and two full-time greenskeepers to tend to it all, has drawn from everyone around him.
“Money doesn’t matter to Rory,” Gerry McIlroy said. “He doesn’t change, and I’ll tell you why. When he was growing up, we used to say to him, ‘The only way to go through life is to be nice. It doesn’t cost you any money to be nice.’ ”
Gene Wojciechowski also checked out the town and writes about the impact Rory has had on Holywood.
"Oh, he's put Holywood on the map," says Lorna Alexander, a McIlroy family friend whose haircutting shop features an autographed photo of Rory. "It's become a very special wee town."
McIlroy could live anywhere. He has the money: $5.2 million earned on the PGA Tour, another 8 million-plus pounds earned on the European Tour, endorsement money out the wazoo. In fact, Oakley just unveiled its very own Rory golf clothing collection, complete with a pre-announced Open Championship ensemble for his Thursday-Sunday play -- just like his boyhood golf hero Tiger Woods used to do with Nike.
But when he was done with the post-U.S. Open news conferences, the photo shoots, the video shoots, the endorsement obligations in London and the Royal Box appearance at Wimbledon to watch buddy Rafael Nadal, McIlroy returned to the place he knows best and trusts most: Holywood.
David McNeill of the Belfast Telegraph reports on Rory McIlroy's response to critics of his post-Congressional schedule, though it was hardly the "pop" the headline writer suggested it was.
Thanks to reader Tim for the heads-up on the U.S. Open Champion making an appearance tonight on CNN's Piers Morgan show at 9 ET/6 PT....John Strege has several Rory McIlroy anecdotes from the last week of coverage, including his girlfriend's uh, interesting Tweet and this more wholesome item from the Boston Globe.
Will it go to his head? Not likely. One of the better stories post-Open was his ride to Logan Airport in Boston following a charity outing on Monday, as reported by Brian McGrory in the Boston Globe. A canine officer, Barney Murphy, offered McIlroy a police escort to the airport. McIlroy, eschewing the limo, asked whether he could ride in the police car. The Irish-born policeman agreed, then pulled out an iPad, opened his Skype account and contacted his sister, Joan Dodd, in Dublin.
"You'll never guess who I have with me," Murphy said to her. He then turned the iPad's camera on McIlroy, who waved at her. McIlroy ended up speaking to her and her young son, Sean, who said he'd watched the entire Open telecast.
An unbylined Belfast Telegraph story on the latest thrill from Rory's post-U.S. Open victory tour.
Fun loving US Open champion Rory McIlroy will today celebrate a career high golf ranking of third in the world - by having a "knock-up" with tennis legend John McEnroe at Wimbledon.
McEnroe, still famous for his 'You cannot be serious' Wimbledon rant 30 years ago, threw down the challenge to tennis fan Rory via social network site Twitter.
McIlroy has been on a week long party with friends and pop stars Olly Murs and JLS since his sensational victory at Congressional Golf Club last weekend.
Chris Fedor with a nice summary of Rory's appearance on the Dan Patrick Show that has been talked about quite a bit by those who heard it. On whether if he thinks his performance at the U.S. Open was as good as Tiger’s in 2000:
It's amazing in this one how little his swing has changed and how his pre-shot forward press is nearly identical. Thanks to reader David for this.
Woods is scheduled to be at Aronimink next week, to sign the "We Salute Our Heroes" tribute wall in which fans can write personal messages to the U.S. military. He has a news conference Tuesday afternoon, and is expected to take part in the military opening ceremony on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ron Sirak contrasts McIlroy with Tiger after last week's U.S. Open.
When it came time for McIlroy to face the media -- never one of Tiger's favorite chores -- that humility was captivating. With the trophy sitting next to him, Rory took out his cell phone and snapped a photo. "I have to tweet it," he said. "I've waited all week to do this." After the Masters, McIlroy tweeted a photo of him smiling next to Charl Schwartzel, who had on the green jacket Rory could have been wearing. It was a gracious gesture.
After taking his trophy shot Sunday, McIlroy turned his camera toward the hundreds of writers in the room and snapped a photo. In nearly 15 years as a pro, nothing close to that spontaneous ever occurred with Woods. Right now, Tiger has 14 majors and Rory has 13 fewer. But McIlroy is also 13 years younger and has connected with the public in a very special way.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
